Home is the place where people spend a good majority of their time. Therefore, a home should be a place where people can feel safe and secure. However, there have been incidents threatening the stability of residential spaces, coinciding with controversies surrounding substandard construction practices in apartment buildings recently. One such example was the collapse of an underground parking garage in a building under construction. This was attributed to the omission of crucial construction materials, which occurred due to the construction company and LH (Korea Land & Housing Corporation) either failing to recognize or overlooking, the issue during the construction process. Some voices from the construction industry also attribute such problems to the subcontracting structure prevalent in the construction sector. Let's delve into the underlying structural causes of the apartment collapse incident and the conflicts within the construction industry.

Missing Rebars Arose in the World

Result of Investigation of Missing Rebars

In April, an incident occurred in Incheon the new town of Geomdan, where the underground parking garage of an apartment building under construction collapsed. The collapsed section was the roof of the first floor of the underground parking garage, which was intended for the construction of a children's playground. Additionally, the roof level of the second floor of the underground parking garage collapsed not long after. An investigation of the incident revealed that rebars were missing during the construction process. These rebars are essential construction materials that bear tensile forces[1], which concrete structures need to withstand and prevent deformation of the concrete. Furthermore, according to an investigation conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, it was determined that, apart from the absence of rebars, insufficient concrete strength and excessive loading of soil at the ground level were additional factors. Although the construction design required rebars for all 32 pillars supporting the entire building load in the underground parking garage, only 19 pillars were reinforced in the design. Additionally, it was discovered that at least 19 pillars (60%) had missing rebars. If the collapse incident had not occurred during construction, many people would have lived in the apartment, believing it to be a safe space, unaware of the absence of these rebars. The collapsed apartment building in Geomdan New Town was a publicly subsidized apartment complex managed by the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH)[2]. The revelation of the missing rebars has raised concerns about the overall safety of apartments constructed under LH's management.

However, this missing rebar incident was not limited to just that particular apartment case. In June, allegations of substandard construction practices involving missing rebars emerged in an 880-unit apartment complex under construction in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, as well as in an officetel building construction project in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Subsequently, in July, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport conducted a comprehensive investigation into apartment complexes commissioned by LH that were designed with flat slabs[3]. On July 31^st, they revealed that among 102 complexes nationwide, 20 underground parking garages had missing rebars. Flat slab structures are built without perimeter columns or walls supporting the ceiling, so additional rebars must be added to the columns to bear the increased load. Among the investigated complexes, 5 are already occupied. Consequently, LH decided to carry out reinforcement work in the affected apartments. Furthermore, the apartment complex in Geomdan New Town was scheduled for occupancy in December of this year, but its move-in date has now become uncertain. Minister Won Hee-ryong of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport issued an apology to the public, stating, "I hope that the companies responsible for the design that led to these omissions and the construction supervisory officials will face the most severe disciplinary actions, including immediate investigation and prosecution.”

 Growing Concerns about Housing Supply

There is an analysis suggesting that the impact of LH's missing rebar incidents could lead to issues in the housing supply. Experts believe that the originally planned occupancy dates for public housing units might be delayed. In addition, disruption caused by investigations into apartments could delay housing supply, potentially leading to an increase in offering prices. After the missing rebars incident, LH has halted 43 in progress projects, and the revocation of contracts with construction companies is expected to hinder the smooth supply of apartment units. Kim Hyo-sun, Chief Real Estate Officer at NH NongHyup, stated, "Currently, the housing subscription market is thriving mainly in Seoul and the metropolitan areas, so only the places with supply are doing well. In areas where apartment applications are not going well, the LH situation might make supply even more difficult." Furthermore, concerns have been raised about the possibility of increased design and supervision costs, which could contribute to a rise in apartment offering prices. On the other hand, there are analyses suggesting that the LH missing rebars incidents might have minimal impact on the housing supply market. Jang Jae-hyun, Head of Real Today Research Institute, mentioned that since the current housing supply is not particularly active, LH's housing supply delays may not have a significant impact on housing shortages.

Problem of Favoritism: Companies Recruiting Former LH Executives

Following the announcement of the investigation into the missing rebars incidents on July 31^st, LH has canceled the evaluation and selection processes for 11 ongoing projects that involved the participation of construction companies where former LH executives are affiliated in design competitions and supervision. Among these, 10 design competitions involving construction companies which former LH executives affiliated, totaling 561 billion KRW, and one supervision service contract worth 87 billion KRW was subject to evaluation and selection. This cancellation was a result of urgent measures taken by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. An LH official stated, "On August 15^th, there were urgent directives from the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport regarding the bidding process for LH's design and supervision services with construction companies where former LH executives are affiliated," explaining that "all subsequent procedures for design and supervision services conducted after July 31^st were suspended, and appropriate measures were deliberated." In total, projects worth approximately 648 billion KRW were canceled.

The reason behind implementing these urgent measures at the ministry is the suspicion that LH and comprehensive construction companies illegitimately colluded to secure these contracts. Among the predecessor construction companies contracted by LH, some had been involved in the poor construction of many apartments, and former LH executives were found to be associated with these companies. There were concerns raised about the selection of these companies for design and supervision services not being based on fair criteria, but potentially influenced by the presence of former LH executives. Under the current Public Service Ethics Act[4], retired public officials face restrictions when seeking employment. Public officials are required to undergo an evaluation by the Public Service Ethics Committee to determine whether their post-retirement employment is related to their previous official duties. They should follow this law within 3 years of retirement. However, most of the construction companies in question were not considered as subject to the employment review process, as they did not meet the criteria for companies of significant size. As a result, retired LH executives who had been overseeing these companies continued to work for construction companies after leaving LH, thus maintaining ongoing contractual relationships with LH, and benefiting economically. For instance, M Architecture Office, which had conducted 36 supervision contracts totaling 73.5 billion KRW with LH over the last 5 years, was found to have 22 former LH employees working for them. M Architecture Office had overseen the underground parking garage of an apartment complex that collapsed in Geomdan in April and was involved in four out of the fifteen sites where missing rebars were revealed. To sever these collusive relationships, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport prepared measures on August 20^th to exclude companies with former LH executives from the selection process for services. In collaboration with the Ministry of Personal Management, they will consider ways to enhance the effectiveness of the employment review system when selecting those subjects to employment restrictions.

Causes of Poor Construction

Concerns of Poor Construction by Subcontract Structure

Subcontracting refers to a situation where a person or company who has undertaken a certain task partially or entirely entrusts that task to another contractor. It generally involves a structure where large corporations, public enterprises, public institutions, or governments delegate detailed tasks to subcontractors when such tasks are too intricate to be handled directly. In most cases, the main contractor includes large corporations, public enterprises, public institutions, or governments, while subcontractors are often small and medium-sized enterprises or businesses. From the perspective of the main contractor, the primary objective is to acquire goods or services of good quality at the lowest cost. If this structure is realized as an ideal model, it can prevent monopolistic growth of large corporations and promote co-growth with medium-sized enterprises. However, in reality, main contractors often pressure subcontractors to reduce costs to maximize their own profits. This subcontracting structure is also present in the construction industry. The owner of a rebar supply company in Ansan City, Gyeonggi Province, recently pointed out that due to rebar prices increasing significantly, labor costs have also been consistently rising, yet, "Due to competitive bidding in construction projects, the proposed construction costs by the main contractors remain unchanged," adding that despite the current downward trend in rebar prices after a sharp increase in June 2021, the prices are still burdensome compared to 2020. They further noted, "While overall material and labor costs are rising, the construction fees provided to subcontractors remain the same, which could lead to the use of fewer construction materials."

The Blame Game Between Architects and Structural Engineers

The dispute over responsibility of the missing rebars incident between architects and structural engineers is intensifying. Architects are responsible for designing and overseeing the construction of buildings through orders from clients. Structural engineers, on the other hand, calculate the loads and other factors applied to buildings based on the architects' designs and are responsible for planning the building structures. While buildings are the result of collaboration between these two parties, their clash has been revealed through this incident. The Korea Institute of Registered Architects (KIRA) expressed apologies for the missing reinforcement incident and attributed the key factors leading to the incident as "structural calculation errors and omissions." They pointed at structural engineers as the responsible party. They also vigorously refuted the claim made by the Korean Structural Engineers Association (KSEA) that "problems arose due to architects monopolizing contracts from design to oversight." Before the statement from the KIRA, the KSEA had argued that blaming architects as not responsible for errors in structural calculation and design flaws was not appropriate. Furthermore, the KSEA emphasized the need for improvement, suggesting that for the safe construction of buildings, structural engineers should have independent authority and responsibility rather than being subcontractors to architects under the current subcontracting system. Under the current law, Article 23 of the Building Act stipulates that only architects can perform building design, even though structural engineers possess the competence to do so. They argued that this incident occurred because structural engineers have effectively become subcontractors of architects, despite having the capacity to conduct independent structural design. Structural engineers also emphasized the need for independent authority in building structural design to ensure safe construction.

Thus, the issue of missing rebars is entangled with various complex problems within the construction industry's structure, the intertwined relationships between construction companies with former LH executives and LH itself, and more. The fact that a housing corporation responsible for providing secure residential living was offering risky homes to the citizens has been a shocking revelation for many. Looking ahead, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has announced plans to continue investigating not only LH-constructed apartments, but also apartments constructed by private companies, to ensure appropriate design and sufficient materials have been used. This incident should serve as an opportunity for the construction industry to address irregularities and improve the subcontracting structure, ensuring the provision of safe housing to the citizens.